It has been claimed in comments on this blog that notes and coin are debt free money. This is not true. The Bank of England accounts dealing with the Issue Department make this clear. This is its balance sheet: The notes and coins in circulation are very definitely a liability of the Bank because Read the Rest…

Much has been written about my opinions on money over the last few days, mainly by supporters of Positive Money. What many seem not to have noticed is that I have proposed a way for the government to create large quantities of interest free money to be spent into the economy. This is, if course, Read the Rest…

I’ve been in debate with Positive Money and its supporters on the issue of banking. I admit this was not intentional in that I was not seeking to provoke such an exchange at this time, but to give PM their due, they never miss a chance. My concerns with PM’s proposals on bank reform are Read the Rest…

The myth that there were just a few rotten apples in banking was shattered for good last week: fines exceeding $5 billion on major banks, admission of criminal wrong doing, involvement of senior staff and even complicity in the Bank of England are now all on record. So what would a sensible government do now Read the Rest…

From the FT this morning: A former investment banker is considering a bid to lead the Treasury select committee, promising to end “banker-bashing” and to protect indebted households as the economy recovers. Mark Garnier, a former associate director at Bear Stearns and then a hedge fund manager, is testing whether he has enough support to Read the Rest…

It’s been widely reported that the above was said by one of the foreign exchange traders whose behaviour has led to the imposition of fines exceeding £3 billion on the banks they worked for. Those banks are worth naming. They areBarclays, RBS, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Bank of America. UBS took part in the activity Read the Rest…

The FT has reported that: The role of the financial sector in the US, Japan and other advanced economies has grown too big, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In a new study IMF economists say that emerging economies need to learn the lessons of the 2008 global financial crisis and avoid allowing their banking Read the Rest…

The Guardian has reported that: David Cameron will tear a leaf out of Labour’s playbook by announcing that he will use the £227m fine imposed on Deutsche Bank for rigging the Libor rate into a new three-year fund to create 50,000 new apprenticeships. It added: The new scheme will be specifically targeted at 22-24-year-olds who Read the Rest…